(paper manufacture) An undesirable pink-colored microbial mass occurring in the slurry used in making paper. [from 1951]

1955, Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry. Microbiological Committee, John William Appling, Microbiology of pulp and paper:

Pink slime is a real and continuing problem in many paper mills. Once established it may be difficult to ... Holmes (15, 16) and Sanborn (24) stated that yeasts or yeast-like fungi were often the cause of pink slime.

(informal, dysphemistic) A meatbyproduct produced from scraps by heating and then treating with ammonia to produce a food additive. [from 2002]

Water flowed down the cliff, showering on their heads; the stone under their feet was slick with pink slime.

2006, Norman Allen, The Besting of Humphrey Mercer, page 34:

The pastry room was a further revelation. Six young girls in white coats and white hats were dusting white flour over small pre-formed pastry lids, which were then glued onto cups of uncooked short crust filled with pink slime.

2010, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Ambushed!, page 45:

As she buried her face deep in the cool pulp, even her cheeks became slicked with pink slime. She paid no attention to Gabe, chomping away on his melon next to her. Focus was the name of the game.

Another department microbiologist, Gerald Zirnstein, called the processed beef "pink slime" in a 2002 e-mail message to colleagues and said, “I do not consider the stuff to be ground beef, and I consider allowing it in ground beef to be a form of fraudulent labeling.”